Stranger than Friction
by Micaru
Summary: Kakashi and Sakura are shipped off to Mist with Konoha's future teetering on their shoulders. If the expression applied to them-- and indeed it did-- hell did freeze over. And the pair of them were veritably sloshing through it. Friction ensues.
1. Just Kakashi

**_Disclaimer:_** **_I don't own Naruto or any of the characters in the series. I just like to borrow them to make them do my bidding is all._**

_A/N: I've been wanting to post this fanfic for a while. I'm really excited about it. It's a combination of things-- humor, romance, adventure, drama, whatever. _

_Rated for adult themes and circumstances to come._

* * *

Stranger than Friction

Chapter One: Just Kakashi

* * *

"Sakura! Oh, Sakura!"

"…"

"Ooooh, just like that, Sakura-chan! Just like that!"

"…"

"Here, if you'll just toss your leg right over my shoulder…"

"…"

How I refrained from smashing his teeth in I do not know. I must've had the patience of a saint. Especially considering my incredible tolerance to bare the come-ons and moans by certain unconscious idiots with nary an eye twitch.

"Oh, Sakura… are you sure you haven't done this before?"

If I had not been presently carrying the blonde bridal style, I'd have most definitely smacked my palm into my forehead. Or his. Whatever would have made hearing this less humiliating.

"Sakura, has anyone ever told you that you've got lungs _made_ for screaming?"

It was cruel and unusual punishment.

"I wont… forget this," I hissed between my teeth, my face blazing like a fireball.

Of course, it was a fair combination of things that had me flushing like I was. The lewd compliments. The squeals of imagined pleasure. The persistent gropes. The sun that seemed to be following me with a magnifying glass.

"Oh, Sasuke… you want a turn, too?" Naruto was next saying, his words almost slurring together as he twisted in my arms. I tilted my chin away when his face neared mine. Call me paranoid, but I had every right to be at this point. Last time, he 'accidentally' bumped his lips over my cheek. I think he missed.

Naruto continued. "Well, sure, Sasuke. There's enough of _me_ to go around…"

This time, for the first time in hours, I could feel my dry lips twitch into a grin. "I _definitely_ wont forget this," I felt the need to add.

An hour later, after more grunts, moans, and groans( not inspired by my name for a change ), the anticipated picture of Konoha's gates overwhelmed my case of homesickness with a wave a relief. The urge to just dump the deadweight that was Naruto at the entrance and book it to my apartment was maddeningly tempting.

A cold, cold shower sounded fabulous to me. Not to mention, I was starving. Suna food was good, sure, when you could pick most of the sand out of it, but just the thought of a traditional bowl of ramen made my mouth water and my stomach do all kinds of back flips. And my bed-- I didn't even want to get started on how much I missed it. It wasn't only the fact that I was exhausted that made me miss it, but I missed it because it was mine. Not some stale cot on the hard floor or a sleeping bag laid out in the middle of the desert, but it was my own real, soft, cushioned mattress of peaceful bliss.

Alas, I was too responsible to ditch Naruto when he was like this. I liked to think he wouldn't if it were me. That he would go through the trouble to make sure that I received proper medical attention even if he were running on little more than chakra… I liked to think that, anyway.

So, swallowing my personal wants and needs, I set out for the hospital like a good, concerned friend would. It never ceased to amaze me how glorious chakra-control was when one was running on an empty tank and their limbs felt like jelly. Indefinitely, my chakra had been very useful for the past hours. I couldn't imagine a life without it.

In no time, courtesy of good food, a bath, and bed as my incentive, I reached the hospital-- the same hospital I was usually cooped up in a million hours a day treating patients with kunai protruding from all kinds of places.

When I stepped inside, a rush of cool air greeted me and I sighed-- pure heaven. I leaned into it, but trudged on.

"Haruno-san!" I turned to face a duo of nurses flocking my way. Like they usually did. Like I usually went out of my way to avoid. "Is he…?"

"He's fine, Chiyo-san," I assured the brunette as I swiftly marched down the hall, "just an accident."

"What happened, Sakura?" the other nurse inquired( the kid who I had been saying hi to for the passed three years but have been too embarrassed to actually ask his name at this point ).

"Typical Naruto screw-up. Nothing serious," I answered, not caring to stick around for long. A cold shower was love right now. The young nurse eyed Naruto as he let out a moan and raised her eyebrows, doing her best to scramble after me as I cut through the department.

"Are you sure he's..?"

"Uh-huh," I said quickly as I took up the first flight of stairs in one measured jump. They couldn't hope to keep after me. Which, obviously, I'd no intention of letting them do. But, for the sake of their noses, I offered them a "sure am. He'll be okay, I guarantee it" before moving on.

After the second flight, I wheeled around the first corner, narrowly missed mashing Naruto's head into said corner, and was greeted by the exact motherly face I had meant to see. "Shizune-san," I breathed, "could you take care of this?" I shrugged the limp boy in my arms. His head rolled.

Shizune took one glance at Naruto and sighed disapprovingly as she led me through the corridor and into Room C12 six doors down. The room Naruto always frequented.

"What happened to him _this_ time?"

-

Home. Home. Home.

The word ran over and over in my mind as I scuttled through the hospital, flying down to ground level. The mission debriefing could wait a little while. Right now I was dirty, tired, and hungry. A girl had her priorities. We'd returned a little bit early, anyway. No one would be looking for me.

Not to mention, there was sand lodged up in all kinds of places I didn't even want to _think _about.

"Um, Sakura… Sakura!"

I froze mid-stride and set my teeth. I talked through them. "Yes?"

Who was it? Who was it that could _possibly_ want me now?

"The Hokage requests an audience of you," said that man-nurse that I had long ago determined too lispy to like girls.

"When?" I stared despairingly at the doors. Not even ten feet away. I could make it if I ran…

"Now, I believe."

"Of course she does," I growled, my tone laced with all kinds of sarcasm. I wanted to scream.

-

"Shishou? You wanted to see me?" I called through the door, deciding it was best if I didn't knock if Tsunade was to keep said door.

"Come in."

I opened the door a fraction and reluctantly peered inside, not quite in the mood to hear the Hokage point out my massive pit stains and tell me that my hair looked disgusting. This I already knew.

Through the crack I could see Tsunade, swamped with papers at her desk. Which might have explained her narked grimace now. "Yes, shishou?" I deeply hoped that the look on Tsunade's face didn't forecast a storm.

"Sakura, I said come in," Tsunade replied shortly, by the look of it, forcing her tone to be remotely civil.

"Okay," I sighed, and veered the door open. I was correct. She was pissed. I paused, mid-entry.

"Good afternoon, Sakura."

"Oh…" I gingerly closed the door behind me and pressed my back to it for just a moment. "Afternoon… Kakashi-sensei," I countered as I examined the silver-haired man leaning against the wall. He seemed to be particularly fascinated with the cobweb presently dangling from the air vent.

I didn't want to ask. Everyone knew that his practices were to never be questioned.

"Sakura," Tsunade said, snapping my attention to her in an instant. "How was the mission?" She was obviously forcing her lips into the most pleasant smile she could manage as she studied her perfect red nails.

"It was fine," I answered slowly as I approached her desk, suspicious now due to Kakashi's involvement and Tsunade's unusual beating around the bush. "Successful, anyway."

"Excellent. How's Naruto? I hope he wasn't too much of a pain?" Tsunade asked. I didn't know why she bothered asking. I already knew she knew everything. Shizune practically lived in her ear.

"He's downstairs… Fine. Possibly foaming at the mouth. But fine," I replied, wary still.

"Good, good," she hummed. Finally, the hokage looked up, her eyes seeming to home in on me. I squared my jaw and braced for the comment that would inevitably make me fluster. "Ugh," Tsunade hissed, her nose wrinkling. I grimaced.

"I-I know, Tsunade-shishou, but I was meaning to go and take a sh--"

"Kakashi-- you're making me nauseous-- get out. Uuugh. You're going to make a mess all over my carpet," Tsunade growled, her eyes shutting as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Gods, the smell of it is disgusting!"

I blinked at her, relieved and alarmed at the same time. Then I followed Tsunade's eyes to Kakashi.

"I'll be sure to ask the nice Mist ninja to try not to split skin next time they feel like sharing a friendly game of face-fist," he murmured evenly, his eye still absorbed on that one cobweb. "It might make a mess on the Hokage's carpet, I'll tell them."

"Watch it, _boy_," Tsunade snapped. "I'm already in a bad mood because of this potential war crap." And the tenfold paper heaps that it naturally strung along with it I guessed. "I don't need your sarcasm. Don't try me, Hatake. Get out! Go and get that looked at or something before you go into shock or something! Ew, get out, get out-- you're starting to _leak!_"

"...Yes, Hokage-sama," I heard him sigh.

"Kakashi-sensei, what--"

"Just Kakashi, Sakura," Kakashi corrected me. He didn't give me a chance to finish my question as he just offered me a two-fingered salute and exited Tsunade's office, the door clicking shut behind him. I could only stare at the door in his wake.

"What happened…?" I asked Tsunade instead, disgusted, but not nearly as much as my teacher seemed to be, given how she was breathing deeply and fanning her face with a packet that she'd seized from her desktop.

I watched Tsunade stride quickly over to the southern window and stick her head out of it. The scent of blood was never kind on her stomach. I was surprised she didn't hurl then and there. "Ask him," Tsunade murmured after a moment, nose still wrinkled as she faced me, but her eyes now opening to regard me curiously. "You'll have plenty of time."

My mind went in circles for a second. I could feel my eyebrow arch dubiously. "Shishou?" Tsunade interlaced her fingers together and crossed them over her stomach, all business now. Which I appreciated. I was never a fan of suspense. I tried to pay close attention.

"A while ago, we sent a team down to Mist to discuss negotiation. From what I understand, they were to return ASAP. You see, that's the problem. It takes only eight days to get there. The negotiation was scheduled for the day after they arrived. They've been gone for four weeks. Kiba Inuzuka. Shikamaru Nara. Neji Hyuga. Each are important assets to the village's forces. If they are alive, then there isn't anything to worry about. If they are not… this will not be taken lightly. The threat of war between Mist and Leaf has been hanging over this village for years now. If things turn out how I'm anticipating, it will be high time for Konoha to take the next step."

My eyes widened in horror. "You mean…"

"Yes, Sakura, that's where you and Kakashi come in." My jaw dropped. "Well, Naruto and Sasuke, too, but Sasuke's already involved with his ANBU mission and Naruto's making out with his pillow in the firm."

"Are you serious?" I asked, my voice barely more than a whisper.

"Well, sure. Shizune told me right before you showed up. Said he was practically sucking the stuffing out of it," Tsunade explained, shaking her head.

"Not that... I mean, you're going to send me and Kakashi-sensei there? To Mist? No back-up? No anything?" I said, hearing my voice climb a few octaves toward the end.

"No, Sakura, you aren't listening," Tsunade said sharply, making me bite my lip. I sincerely hoped that I wasn't listening and that I'd missed something here. "Naruto and Sasuke will catch up… in a week or so. It depends on how fast Naruto recovers and how soon Sasuke returns from his assignment," Tsunade smiled, as if what she'd said made a world of difference.

"But you said it yourself-- it takes eight days to get to Mist. Can't we wait for Naruto to snap out of it at least? You know him, shishou, he'll be on his feet in no time!"

"Sakura, Sakura," Tsunade sighed. "This can't afford to be put off any longer. This mission will tell us if the shinobi we sent are alive." She directed her eyes out of the window. "This mission will determine the next course of action for both Konoha and Suna, Sakura. _This _mission will decide if we go to war."

I honestly didn't know what to say. I didn't know if there was even anything I could say.

"Believe me when I say this. If there was any other practical alternative than sending your team down there, I would do it. But there is no one else. I wouldn't have assigned this to you if I didn't think you could do it. We're running low on first class shinobi. And I haven't been training you for seven years for nothing," she said, casting me a meaningful look at this last part. "Sakura, you are the only one I can trust to get this done. I would go myself, but…" Tsunade shot a nasty glare to a particularly large stack of papers invading her desk space. "…Well, so Shizune never forgets to remind me, I have other priorities. Sakura, there isn't anybody else. Only you can do this."

The argument was over. The feeling of there being nothing to say remained. Only… "Y-Yes, shishou."

"Good. That's just what I wanted to hear!" She clapped her hands together and folded them beneath her chin. "I gave the scroll regarding the details of the mission to Kakashi." She nodded at the door. "It's been ages since you all have been on a mission together, hasn't it? It should be like old times." Tsunade flashed me another smile that was supposed to make everything be okay. I didn't return it. "Alright, Sakura. You're leaving in exactly one hour." I felt my lower jaw promptly unhinge from the upper for the second time.

"But--"

"Prepare your things and set out. The potential for war depends on this. Depends on you and Kakashi both. However, there's zero pressure. I'm sure you'll do fine."

"Y... yes, shishou," I answered, barely able to say anything passed the lump clogging my throat.

"Well, good luck and good bye."

I turned around and trudged out of the office, Tsunade's final words of "you look like hell-- go and take a shower" the icing to the pretty little cake I called My Life. My face was the picture of terrified, I knew, even as I started down the hall. Not even a chakra boost now could hope to lift my spirits.

"You're taking this rather well."

I groaned. "You think so?"

"Not really," the nonchalant voice told me, and I could hear Kakashi trailing along somewhere beside me. I didn't look.

"Thanks. That makes me feel a little better…" I drawled as I descended the stairs.

We were in front of the building before either one of us said another word-- both _obviously _speechless with the joy of it all. And, it was me who was first to break that silence. Of course. "Only one hour…" I murmured glumly. "That's hardly even enough time for me to shower and get ready… let alone eat and pack for another mission."

"Yeah, well," Kakashi shrugged, obviously not as bothered as I was. "You take what you can get."

"I suppose you're right," I admitted. "Where do you want to…" Kakashi tossed me a questioning glance when I abruptly trailed off and he turned to face me fully now. A part of me wished he hadn't. "Oh, that's sick," I mumbled as I stared at him narrowly. "Aren't you supposed to go and get your face looked at, Kakashi-sensei?" I accused, my tone threatening to tattle on him. His eyebrow arched and his lone eye narrowed to match mine.

I watched in horror as a thread of blood bubbled through his mask and seeped onto the concrete with a sickening splat.

"Well, you can't just be dripping all over the place all day long! For one it's disgusting to look at, and two, that cannot be sanitary. I'm sure they could find a way to fix it-- _whatever_ it is-- without removing your mask, if that's what you're worried about," I said to him, putting out the arguement that was most likely to win him over.

When I thought about it, I didn't really think that it was very practical. Not without fixing his skin to his mask. But I'd rather that than have to see this all day. And all tomorrow. And all the day after. And all the day after that…

Kakashi in turn shrugged. "The few medicnin that are here are busy enough with the shinobi with _real_ injuries," he told me, playing the 'it isn't a big deal' card on me like I knew he would. "Besides, it'll clot up sooner or later. Don't worry about it. If it bothers you, I'll just put my hand over it. See? Problem solved."

Problem _not _solved. I was _not _convinced. Another string of blood oozed as though it wanted to contradict him.

"Kakashi-sensei… What if it gets infected?"

"It won't." Drip.

"How do you know?"

"I thought that you were already aware of the fact that I know everything." Drip.

"Kakashi-sensei, if you don't do anything at all, it'll get all irritated when you talk…"

"That's easy enough. I just wont talk." Drip drip.

"As tempting an argument as that is, it might swell with pus and in addition to the blood that is already leaking through, there will also be a yellow fluid discharge." Yes. What better way to persuade him than to gross him out?

"Then I reckon that I wont ever get thirsty."

I frowned, displeased with his making no effort to cooperate. I'd had more patients more willing to amputate their finger. "And then, when and if it does coagulate like you say, when the wound scabs over, it'll glue to your mask and hurt even worse than it probably does right now. That is, before your skin grows to it. Then you wont _ever _have to remove the mask because it'll be attached to you."

"Why, that'd be fantastic."

"Sensei! Would you at least let me do it? I wont look, I swear." So he wouldn't stand to reason? I was always a good beggar.

"Sakura…"

"Kakashi-sense-ei," I whined, tilting my eyebrows in the way no one could resist-- my trademark. I felt a glimmer of hope when he went quiet for a long moment, probably running through his options. Though I think I made it clear that there was no other option.

Finally, he glanced at me from the very corner of his eye, sizing me up. "… You wont look?"

"Kunoichi's promise." I held up three fingers and put my hand over my heart. When he sighed, I smiled triumphantly, knowing that I had finally won. "Okay, sensei, we'll do it at the infirmary." I turned and started for the hospital door. When there was no footsteps behind me, I paused, and looked over my shoulder.

He was still standing there. He hadn't moved an inch.

"What is it?" I asked, confused. Kakashi raised his eyebrows. He was probably frowning at me, too, though I couldn't see it.

"Not where everyone can see, Sakura," he told me.

"But no one'll look," I argued.

"Not where everyone can see," he repeated, this time more sternly.

"You're so paranoid…" I grumbled. "Where then? I could do it behind a screen-- or go and find an empty hospital room?"

I frowned when he shook his head. "Your apartment?" He shook his head. "My apartment?" He shook his head. "Kakashi-sensei! You've got to work with me here! You're rejecting all my ideas. _You _think of somewhere where you'd be comfortable!"

He went silent. And then he sighed. "Fine."

-

"Okay, sensei. This wont take but a moment. And try not to mess anything up when you go inside, please."

"Oh, then you wont want me going in," he said dryly, "I might mess up your carpet." He gestured to his mouth and I narrowed my eyes at him but smirked all the same.

"Good thing I have wooden flooring." I led him into my apartment and gestured for him to follow me to the bathroom. I entertained the idea of making a u-turn that second and kicking him out for the sole reason of flinging myself face first onto my bed. I often entertained ideas. Never actions, sadly.

"You've got a nice place," Kakashi commented out of propriety as I held the bathroom door open for him as though I were welcoming a patient back at the hospital. A habit.

I smiled a 'yeah-I-know' smile and shuffled over to the closet to take out a rag. All that was left was white. I hadn't had the chance to do laundry in while. I hadn't been home in a week. And even before then, the hospital was always demanding my time. A vacation is what I needed. Not another mission.

"Alright," I murmured as I peered up at my teacher, not quite appreciating the height he had on me even as he slouched. "How are we going to do this? Oh, I know! Sit on the counter." I patted the countertop as though I were trying to get a dog to jump onto it. Kakashi didn't seem to mind.

"You're the doctor," he said and obediently perched upon the spot I'd indicated for him. Turning on the water faucet and pressing the rag under it, I aimed Kakashi a pointed glance.

"Right, well, I'm not going to look like I promised you… but if I poke out your last good eye by accident, it's on you," I mumbled as I squeezed the excess water from the cloth.

I saw him shrug in the corner of my eye. "It wouldn't be a terribly foreign experience," he replied evenly, "I should think I'd manage." I sighed, but nevertheless, proceeded to dutifully ring out my cloth. His next words caught me off guard.

"I don't trust you."

"Huh?"

"I don't trust you not to look."

"I told you-- I wont," I piped hotly, indignant now that he didn't believe me. Kuniochi's promise! Hello-o! "After all these years, you still don't trust me?" I hissed.

"Of course I do," Kakashi answered plainly. "I trust you to be a good little Kunoichi and do what your elder bids of you. Now, cover your eyes. You can use your headband. Or you can even use mine if you'd prefer it?"

"Tch!"

"Come on, _Sasuke_. Quit huffing and let's get this done already. We've a mission, you know."

"I am aware," I rejoined.

Ultimately, I did do what I was told, sourly, but come two minutes, I'd managed to tie the headband-- _my_ own headband-- about my eyes with it knotted at my temple as he instructed me.

"All I need now is a stick to beat you with," I grumbled. I didn't like not being able to see. I felt paranoid.

I situated myself just in front of where I imagined his knees were and pressed my hand against his shoulder so I'd have at least a vague idea of where he was. So that I wouldn't brain myself all over the counter. I sneered when I felt my teacher quiver with some silent laugh, undoubtedly because of how I looked now.

"Yeah, yeah, giggle at me all you want," I chuckled, also smiling. "I imagine that people who wear their headbands over their eyes do look a hell ova' bit foolish." I laughed when he promptly went still, and I entertained the idea of him scowling. "Now hold still." I slowly reached my hand up and blindly played my fingertips along the feathery contour of his hairline. I stretched the pads of my fingers down his temple and paused when I felt him subtly blink his eye closed when my thumb passed over it. "Whoops," I murmured. "See, I'm already out to get you."

"Are you?" he grunted. His eyelashes tickled my thumb.

"Mm," I hummed.

When my fingers hooked beneath the stretchy mask material, I couldn't help but worry my lip. I slowly began to peel the mask downward and I could feel my fingernails graze along the upper portion of one very human feeling cheek. And, even without thinking, I hesitated.

"Anything wrong?" I heard my sensei say, felt the vibrations of him enunciating through his mask.

"No," I told him quickly.

"I think there is. Your face looks like a tomato," he accused. His tone caused me to shake my head with a bit of vigor, and my face grew even hotter when I realized that he most probably had been observing me the whole time.

"It's a sun burn. Suna does that to you-- especially when you're as white as I am," I explained.

"Does it?" he hummed, and my nose wrinkled to hear the slight undertone of humor threading his words.

"Yes," I said in a growl, forcing my fingers along with determination.

"Okay then." For whatever reason, my fingers froze. Again. I could have kicked myself in the head for it. But I couldn't help it. "I take it that it's the sun burn?" Kakashi guessed, sarcastic.

"No," I admitted.

"Maybe there's another condition that I don't know about?" he said and I pursed my lips.

Finally, I gave him an answer. If it could even be called that. "...It's just unreal."

"How so?" he asked, genuine curiosity in his usually disinterested timbre.

Now that I knew he was listening and not contemplating how many different ways he could rearrange the letters in his name, I felt a bit stilted. Another lame answer was in store. "Well… this is you."

Kakashi let out a quiet gasp of mock astonishment, "Me? I had no idea."

I flicked him in the forehead and growled. It was difficult enough to say it without his unwarranted sarcasm. "You know what I mean! It's just odd that after eight years of nothing at all…that right now… eh." I suddenly cut myself off before I further embarrassed myself. "Never mind," I finished, "it's actually quite silly now that I say it."

It unnerved me when Kakashi didn't say a word. No sarcasm, no anything. I imagined him burning black holes into my face with his stare and though I had no way of possibly knowing, I suddenly found myself wanting to shrink behind my headband. But, as there was no way to do so that didn't consist of bending some scientific law or something, I was condemned to sizzle in the hot soup of my own musings.

I jolted when I felt a warm something curl over my fingers and unattach my hand from the mask. This lasted for a second before, with what I quickly discerned his fingers-- fingers that made mine feel like little pigmies-- he steered my hand to where I figured his chin was. If, indeed, he had a chin. For all I knew, he had a mutant elbow that he was deeply ashamed of.

"We need to get a move on, Sakura," Kakashi said and moved my hand to his mouth-- a normal, two-lipped mouth. I felt the raw warmth of his chuckle when I tensed. "Relax, Sakura," he said to me, "I'm not going to eat them. At least, not without any salt."

I would have said something like 'eat as much salt as you want. That's just what your gash needs'-- I would have had I not felt as though I was about to suffocate for lack of breathing. After having achieved the feat of directing my finger to the wound, I felt his hand draw away.

"That feels horrible," I finally commented, gently touching my thumb to the jagged and fair bit slippery rift in the corner of his lower lip.

"But let me tell you, it feels fantastic," he murmured against my probing digit, "_especially _when you poke it."

My lips twitched into a sneer. "Well, you wont let me _see _it. I need to determine how big it is so that I can know what kind of thing I'm working with here," I explained before gasping. "Oh my… it's huge!"

I didn't realize why at the time, but Kakashi's lips twisted infinitesimally when I said this. Probably at what I said and how I said it. But I was too absorbed into my work now to fully notice.

"I can't work when your lips are moving," I told him next. "So don't talk anymore."

Plus it was distracting.

I felt his mouth part to emit a Shikamaru-esque sigh before pressing into a taut line. I couldn't help but smirk at his compliance and lightly touched the damp corner of the cloth to his lips.

"So how'd you get this thing anyway?" I asked in order to occupy my patient in the way I'd learnt to do as a medicnin. When I felt his mouth open to answer, I quickly cut him off, "oh, don't answer that." I chuckled. "Stop frowning. You'll make it bleed more. And no, that doesn't mean to say you can grimace either."

I'm sure_ I_ was grinning. There was nothing like bossing Kakashi around. Something I could have definitely gotten used to.

It took longer than I thought it would to finish cleaning the gash. Of course, if I wasn't smearing the cloth across his cheek every time I came back from rinsing the thing, it might have gone along alot quicker. When I was sure that I'd gotten most, if not all, of the blood from his chin, I put my hand on his shoulder again and patted to let him know I was done.

"Alright, face the mirror and see if I got all the blood, okay?" I said. He twisted around slowly before turning back to me.

"I guess," he said, my hand shifting with his shrug.

"Good." I tossed the rag over to the sink. I heard it splat against the mirror. "Now for the finishing touches…" I reached for his face. My palm smacked into it. "Sorry."

I lied. It was his fault.

"Lovely," his muffled voice spoke into my hand. I laughed.

Maybe I _was_ out to get him.

I next lightly pressed my index and middle finger to his lips. "Alright. This might twinge a bit," I warned him. He hummed his consent against my fingers in response. I released a measured breath, concentrating.

Like a flick of a switch, the chakra eddying in my belly redirected in an instant, flowing down my bicep, through my forearm, and into my fingertips like an electric pulse. These days, it wasn't hard to control it. However, presently, it took all my effort to focus it. But I was managing. Without even realizing, I had moved my hand from his shoulder and propped it on the counter. My arm felt too heavy to support for some reason.

Before I was anywhere near finished, I felt Kakashi's hand grab my wrist and pull it away from his face.

"What's wrong?" I asked, confused.

"I could ask you the same thing," was the answer I got.

"What are you talking about?"

"Your hand's shaking," Kakashi pointed out, and I felt him tap the center of my palm with his finger as if half expecting my hand to fall off. "That's never happened before."

"I'm running a little low on chakra, maybe, but really, it's fine," I reassured him, moving to put my hand to his lips again. It didn't move. His hand had tightened around my wrist to prevent it. I frowned.

"We're done here. Save your energy," he told me, and all too quickly, it seemed, he pressed my hand to the surface of the countertop-- where he was supposed to have been sitting-- and his voice was coming from somewhere behind me. "I told the Hokage that it was a bad idea to ship you out when you'd be this worn."

"Wait-- Kakashi-sensei!" I wheeled around so fast that I face planted into something that had me stumbling back. Fortunately, that same something caught me by the arm right before I scattered the contents of my skull across the mirror.

"Just Kakashi," his voice was correcting me, and suddenly I could see again. I cringed against the light, and saw his hand draw back to lodge itself into his pocket. To my dismay, his mask was up, and his eye was peering at me over the top. This made me grimace.

"I'm fine, I'm fine!" I said, taking a few hasty steps toward him.

He stopped me when he held up his hand. With his other arm, he reached into the closet and procured a towel, which he tossed to me. "Then take a shower. We'll be leaving in forty-five minutes." In answer to my expression, he added, "Don't worry. You stopped the bleeding. I'll be good for now."

"Come on," I tried. "It wont take a second. Let me finish what I started."

"You _are_ finished," Kakashi said flatly. "Now, if you've got the energy to argue with me, you have enough energy to get ready." He turned around and strolled out of the bathroom. "I'll meet you at the Eastern Gates in forty-five. If you want to help me, eat something. That'll make me feel loads better."

I sighed in defeat. "Yes, Kakashi-sensei."

"Just Kakashi."

"Hmph," I huffed, closing my bathroom door. I could already see it. This was going to be a long, long mission.

* * *


	2. Beetle Bars and Burnt Rice

**_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters in the series. I just like to borrow them to make them do my bidding is all._**

Stranger than Friction

Chapter Two: Beetle Bars and Burnt Rice

* * *

And so I did what I was told.

I lathered up and showered. Not nearly as long as I would have wanted. But if things were going how I wanted, I'd never have been sucked into Tsunade's office to even begin with. If things had gone how _I_ wanted, I'd be enjoying a nice, fat, piping bowl of Ichiraku's specialty.

As it was, I swallowed to keep from drooling on myself.

Looking around now, I regretted not taking a longer shower-- or at least, stopping by the market place to pick up a bento box. I'd have had enough time.

Kakashi was late.

Not that I expected him to be on time or anything. You know, it was just the prospect of his village's welfare that was at stake. Nothing he should care to show up on time for or anything. I slumped into a sit against the gate. I looked to my poorly supplied pack and glared. Courtesy of my impromptu rushing, there was close to nothing in it.

A couple sets of clothes. A toothbrush. My hairbrush. Deodorant. Some 'just in case' weapons. A magazine. A sleeping bag. A box of granola bars. And my wallet.

My wallet was essential, and as I thought back, I was sure glad I stumbled over it while bustling around my bedroom. I remembered plenty enough villages dotted the route to Mist. Thankfully! I'd be able to stock up when we hit them.

Geography could be merciful sometimes, I guessed.

But then, when I _also_ thought about it, Kakashi was probably taking his sweet time getting ready. He was probably stashing his entire porn collection into his backpack or something.

I snorted as I took a reluctant nibble out of my crummy granola bar. Which was ironic. Because I thought that now I was back in Konoha, that meant eating food. Not. More. _Sand._

I didn't look up when an insincere apology met my ears. "Sorry, I'm late," it said. "I got held up." My eyes narrowed at my one-twelfth eaten granola bar. And it wasn't because of the beetle that had just landed on it.

"Sure you did," I growled as I dusted the bug off and climbed to my feet.

"Here," Kakashi was saying next to me. I didn't want to look to see what he could possibly have for me. Because I was irritated. And I was tired. And I was hungry. And I wanted something to be mad at.

Unless he had turned into a mattress-- and I doubted he'd be a very comfortable one-- I most definitely did _not _want anything from him.

Except… _I-did-want-it!_

"I can… I can have that?" I asked breathlessly. My eyes, the ones I don't remember giving permission to ever look in the first place, had gone wide.

"Mm." My hands-- the second part of my body eager to betray my mood-- quickly snatched a box out of Kakashi's awaiting hand.

"Kakashi-sensei, you shouldn't have! These are the expensive ones…" I said, choking up. Literally. It was hard to swallow and play the modest grateful card simultaneously.

"It's cheaper than ramen," Kakashi murmured as he watched me promptly destroy the bento box he'd given me, face first. "And Ichiraku was particularly busy," he continued. "I would gotten something from there, but I doubted people would settle for 'I'm going on a mission that will potentially be the reason why you'll never see your husband again'."

I stopped chewing, my eyes on Kakashi's as he stared off into space now, patiently waiting for me to finish inhaling his money. "Fro', Fra' frashy' fren' fraaayy."

Translation: Oh, Kakashi-senseeei.

I couldn't believe Kakashi had gone through the effort for my sake, really. I was at a loss for words. Almost. I swallowed the contents of my mouth and closed the bento box. This must have surprised Kakashi, because when I looked up, his one eye was staring at me.

"What's wrong?" he asked. "Does it taste bad? I thought I got the one that would be best--"

"No, it's fine," I said, finding myself becoming more embarrassed the more he went on about how he actually went out of his way for me. "This wasn't cheap-- I want you to have it. I've got a granola bar, yanno, sensei. I'm good to go."

"You mean that one there?" He glanced at the ground.

"Er, yes!" I said, picking it up and smiling.

"Oh, I didn't know they came in that flavor," he chuckled at me, his eyebrow raising slightly.

I glanced down at my bar. Three beetles were swimming inside of it.

"Extra protein," I said, forcing a laugh.

"To each man his own," he chuckled at me, patting me on the head as he made a beeline for the gates. The very millisecond he turned his back to me, I mouthed a silent scream and launched the disgusting beetle-magnet a hundred yards behind me, before heaving my pack over my shoulder and shuffling after him. "I don't blame you," he hummed at me, and I could see him already reaching for something in his vest.

One guess what.

"Aren't you hungry?" I asked, learning not to be startled when it came to him freakishly being able to see stuff like that… when he's not even facing my direction.

"I bought that for you," he answered, flipping through Icha Icha Vacation as he strolled along. Icha Icha _Vacation._ Appropriate for where we were going, I mused sarcastically.

"I don't see why you did when you'd already told me to eat something," I pointed out.

"Well, did you?"

"Yes. Er, kind of. Not exactly. But you didn't know that."

"Yes, I did."

"Liar."

"You don't have any good food in your kitchen. What are you, still on a diet?" My jaw dropped. "Your fridge has too much… _green._ I doubted you'd get very much sustenance from a stick of celery."

"What were you doing snooping through my fridge?" I intoned, doing my best to hold onto that high esteem I had just had for him.

"Making sure you had plenty to eat. You'd be next to useless if we started this mission with you having an empty stomach. It's common sense. Not to mention, we wont be stopping by many villages, if we can help it. You could do with one last good meal. After all, considering where we're going and what we have to do, it could very well be the last one you'll ever have."

My high esteem for him withered and died, along with any and all-- what little I had to start with-- will to go on..

I tossed a glance over my shoulder at the village gates. I had just gotten here… only a single hour ago. And already I had to leave. On a mission that there was a chance I wouldn't be coming back from.

Feeling sorry for myself wasn't something I was horribly used to. But within the last hour, I found myself probably doing the most I've ever done since my infatuation with Sasuke. And that was a lot.

All too quickly, the Village Hidden in the Leaf wasted away behind us. Leaving me. And him. And the big bad world which had abruptly become our common enemy.

It was a while before I felt confident in my ability to speak without the threat of screaming. "What is it…" My voice died in my throat. I tried again. "What is it that we… that we…"

"It's all in the scroll," Kakashi told me, seemingly oblivious to my incapability of working around the frog in my throat.

"Could I see it?"

"In due time."

"But I'd like to see it now," I pursued. I knew why I could die. I felt entitled to know _how, _at least.

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I said."

He didn't even offer an explanation why. Was I just supposed to accept what he said because he said it? Nope. Nuh-uh. Who did he think he was talking to?

"Kakashi-sensei," I said, schooling my tone to be like his-- confident and authoritative. "I don't know if you've noticed, but it's not up to you to decide. I'm a jonin. Just like you. We're the same. You hold no power over me. I'm not twelve."

"Yet you still choose to call me 'sensei' like you are twelve."

"That's different…" I muttered.

"I beg to differ," Kakashi riposted, flipping a page in his book.

It seemed ages before I finally decided that glaring into the back of Kakashi's head would not make him spontaneously combust.

And, for the next several hours, we walked in remote silence. At first, I was sure I was punishing _him_ to the silent treatment. But somehow, toward the third hour, I realized he didn't especially care. Which, on the contrary, made me feel like I was being penalized.

I took care in noticing that Kakashi didn't look at me once. Which he never did anyway, but usually we weren't being frog marched to our deaths.

His motivation speech making skills needed work, I thought bitterly. _Especially_ since I was quite possibly entering the early stages of depression. And he presently looked as though he could have just been awarded the Konohagakure Peace Prize. That or his puppy just died. I imagined his expression wouldn't have changed much.

What a bore he was. What was so interesting about that book? In a time like this?

Abruptly, my mind was forced to plummet back down to earth when Kakashi stopped walking.

"What are you doing?" I asked, though, when he didn't answer at first, I thought he didn't hear me-- or that he was giving _me_ the silent treatment, which I would not stand for. I opened my mouth to repeat myself, but closed it when he regarded me with a sigh.

He looked around. "We're setting up camp."

"Camp?" I looked at the sky, unsure if it was me or if it _was_ still daylight. It wasn't just me. It couldn't have been passed seven yet. We still could move for two more hours... He let his backpack slide from his shoulder, where it fell to the ground in a heap. "It's still light out," I informed him. Perhaps his only having one eye was somehow hindering his ability to see right. All Kakashi did do was hum. Again. Like that was even a real answer. "Why're we stopping?" I asked, crossing my arms. "Or will that also be revealed to me as well in '_due time'_?"

"You're too tired to go on much farther," he finally answered as he perused his novel distractedly. "We're stopping."

I felt my mouth open to retort, to ask him what made him think he could tell me how I was feeling, but, only a defeated huff left it. My indignation was flaring. However, he was right. I was tired. I couldn't remember how many times I'd stumbled in the past hour because of my eyes drifting closed for a split second too long.

And I'm sure he couldn't help but notice how far I'd straggled behind.

And I'm absolutely positive it crossed his mind that, maybe, just maybe, if we did happen to be attacked, that the biggest threat I'd pose to our enemies would be if I happened to fall asleep on top of one of them. So I've been told on more than one occasion, I have crazy legs when I sleep. Sasuke once said I broke his nose. But I simply figure it was my subconscious finally having a go at him.

"I'll get the fire wood," I murmured, sluggishly dropping my pack to the ground as well.

"It's alright, Sakura," Kakashi's voice carried out to me, "don't worry about it. I'll take care of everything."

I stared at him for a second. "What about dinner?"

"Do you still have the rest of that bento box? Have that."

"And what are you going to eat?"

"I've already eaten."

I didn't have the energy to point out that for the past four hours, unless he pulled down his mask and snorted a fly when I wasn't looking, that he had _not_ eaten. Instead, I discovered my butt plummeting to the ground, the bones in my legs having melted.

I collapsed onto my back and proceeded to starfish myself across the ground. It was no bed, but just laying down in its own affected to pop my spine in at least seven different places.

It was nice.

All too soon, there was a muffled grunt near me and the eyes I didn't recall ever shutting were snapping open. My heart was hammering in my chest and for all of a second, I'd gone completely rigid. The only two things I registered was the array of pink hanging down in front of my eyes. And, the feeling of being suspended in the air.

My first instinct was to flail and scream.

The enemy--the Mist Ninja! I'd been caught! Where was Kakashi-sensei!?

"Let go of me!" I snarled, ramming my elbow, chakra enhanced or not, as hard as I could into my aggressor's abdomen. He crumpled as a result. He must have caught himself with his free hand because, though I could feel my hair trailing the ground, I was still pendent in the air.

"Get off of me-- let go! Let go!" I screamed, bringing my arm back to devastate him in the gut once more the best I could without my chakra. However, something caught my elbow. His hand. I started panicking.

"Help! Kakashi-senseeei! Help!"

"…Sakura! Sakura, stop-- it's me, please," a familiar voice said near my ear, having distinct difficulty choking out these words. I froze in horror.

"Kakashi-sensei?" I gulped, my eyes, though frantic and searching for him, unseeing. I could see the dim lighting of a flame flickering in my peripheral vision, but other than that and the pink mess in front of my face, there was darkness.

"Unnh… Y-yes. Kakashi Hatake, one-hundred percent," his strained voice answered. The body holding me lowered me to the ground-- a soft, fuzzy ground-- before it awkwardly collapsed about three feet away. In the fetal position, I noticed. Now that I could see properly by the fire's light. "I take that back… uuunnh, maybe fifty percent?"

"What?" I asked, my direct line of sight focused on this one crumpled individual before me. My teacher. "What happened-- was there an attack?" I looked around wildly, fully expecting foes to pop out of the trees and surround us. Or at least, a few keeled over bodies from the fight that I had missed…

I only saw one. And it was presently wheezing. And trembling too, I think.

After a moment, Kakashi responded, through his teeth by the sound of it, "Yes. There was an attack. Brutal," he shifted a fraction and hissed, " by the feel of it."

"What _happened?" _I repeated, shooting into the upright position. I was reaching into my thigh holster when Kakashi continued.

"Nothing terrible happened. At least, nothing terrible for you," he murmured once more through his teeth. "Go back to sleep. They'll be alright. I think."

He wasn't making any sense.

"Who?? _Who'll _be alright?"

"My boys, Sakura, my _boys_-- please, go back to sleep."

His 'boys'. I didn't think he was referring to Naruto and Sasuke.

I did. Or at least, I laid back down anyway. I definitely didn't go back to sleep. Couldn't. Not with my crippled sensei across from me the way he was.

Embarrassed and ashamed. That's what I was. Embarrassed and ashamed.

As I lay there peering at him over the top of my roseate sleeping bag, stiff as a board, I'd figured out what had to have happened. I fell asleep earlier, and since it was dark, Kakashi was probably just moving me to my sleeping bag… which he'd prepared without me even asking-- next to the fire he'd fashioned by himself.

And then, as a thank you for his troubles, I'd gone and pegged my teacher in the 'nads. At least, I'd gathered that much anyway. Judging from his choice of laying, his gasps, his wording, and the history of my crazy legs in my sleep. I slowly wiggled out of my shoes and kicked them off to the side. I could have sworn I heard like a gallon of sand spill onto my sleeping bag.

"I'm sorry for …" I said quietly as I tried to dust off some of the sand. With my foot.

"Don't mention it," Kakashi quickly responded. He sounded as though he were managing brilliantly though.

"I'm sorry. That wont… happen again."

There was a brief silence.

"It wasn't your fault," he murmured. "I should have woken you up. Or maybe… worn a cup."

I nodded into my sleeping bag as though he could hear it. I truly was sorry. Five minutes later, I watched him slowly climb to his feet. He toddled over to his own sleeping bag, where he executed the painstaking process of laying _back_ down. I cringed for him.

The next morning I was the first one up. I made sure I was.

Dawn's first light was dancing over the trees, casting funny shadows on the ground and over Kakashi, but it was still mostly dark out. Kakashi wasn't even inside his sleeping bag I noticed. On top of it. Kakashi himself looked much the same as he always did when he slept. Peaceful.

As usual, he'd taken off his headband, where it was now folded neatly by his head. His hair was scattered around, a fringe of it in his eyes. I stared narrowly at the jagged scar that ran through his left eye socket. I was so very tempted to touch it, to run my finger along the puckered flesh, but refrained. Last time Naruto had the very same temptation. He complained about his broken finger for the next three days.

And, not _so_ usual, his legs were separated a bit farther than the average male's automatic span merited.

I didn't think he moved an inch from the spot he'd selected last night. One guess why.

Sighing, I turned around. There was only so many times I could apologize. Besides, that's why I was up. He'd been taking care of me-- and he suffered dearly for it. Now it was my turn to repay the favor. I was going to make him breakfast. I didn't know what yet, but I was going to.

Shuffling over to my backpack, I unzipped it and was greeted with the sorry mess that was my supplies. I reached for my box of granola bars, hesitated, before just closing my bag again. I was sure he wouldn't be hungry for some lame beetle bars.

Looking around, I suddenly got an idea. I'd forgotten that Kakashi-sensei was usually the one to pack all the food. Granted, there was never much because we needed to travel light, and we'd run into villages anyways, but he always had something.

I tiptoed over to his beige pack and kneeled beside it. I had to be extra careful unzipping it. I didn't want Kakashi to wake up until breakfast was ready. I wanted him to be surprised and thrilled that I went through the trouble. Without even realizing I was, I started grinning.

The inside of his bag, to my surprise, was not chalk full of naughty novels. "What? No porn?" I whispered to myself, pawing his things around.

"Sorry to disappoint."

I jolted and fell flat on my ass. My teacher laughed.

"I didn't know you were awake!" I chuckled, still whispering for some reason as I regained my footing. "Ssssh, go back to sleep!" His one black eye watched me amusedly while his other one was idle, closed out of habit.

"Why?" he asked. I could hear the grin in his tone. "So you can find my adult literature stash?"

"No," I hissed, "I'm making us breakfast. I need ingredients."

"You're making breakfast… Who died?" he asked suspiciously.

"You if you don't go back to sleep."

"Fine, fine. I'm sleeping already," Kakashi mumbled and shut his eye. I knew he wasn't sleeping. And I knew he had no such intention of going back to sleep-- if he ever really was in the first place. But it wasn't really like I could accuse him. So long as he was going through the motions I could go about my business.

Now, as Kakashi had earlier made it clear that we wouldn't be bumping into any villages 'if we could help it', it only stood to reason that we conserve what supplies we had. I guessed a small breakfast was in order. I never pegged Kakashi to like extravagant things anyway.

"Pssst." I bent forward and prodded Kakashi in the forehead. "Kakashi-sensei?"

He grunted out a "mm?"

"Did we pass any rivers on the way?"

"No. But there's a small stream about a quarter mile south."

"Alright. Be back in a flash."

"Take the canteens with you."

"I already was. Hush, sensei. You're supposed to be sleeping."

He sighed. And I knew why. But it wasn't like I could just stop calling him 'sensei'. It was practically a part of his name now. 'Just Kakashi' was a foreign taste in my mouth. Unfamiliar. He'd have to deal.

When I reached the stream, I was fairly disappointed. It was mostly dried out and the cleft where the water should have been was devoid of any kind of moisture. I had to follow the stream for a ways down until I could find any water that was not, in fact, mud. After unscrewing the cap to Kakashi's canteen, I dipped it into the cool water, filled it as much as I could before doing the same to mine.

I'd refill them after breakfast, I decided.

Kakashi was awake when I got back, reading on his back. Big surprise. This sort of pissed me off. He was supposed to be resting…

"Find it, did you?" he asked cheerfully, gracing me with a glance as I entered camp.

"Yup. But I suppose you already knew that: I know you followed me." I kneeled down near the fire he'd rekindled sometime between the time I left and the time he spent stalking me and began to pour the water from the first canteen into the pot I'd taken out earlier with the other things.

"I did no such thing…"

"Give it a rest. I'm too attuned with your chakra signal. Even if you wanted, you couldn't hide it. At least, not from me, anyway. I'd bet an acorn to a tree that Sasuke and Naruto wouldn't have noticed though, if that makes you feel any better." I smiled at him as I tipped an adequate amount of rice into the pot.

He raised his eyebrow in return. "Alright," he said. "I admit it. I was… out to relieve myself--" It was my turn to cock a brow. "-- to pee, Sakura, to pee. Get your mind out of the gutter…"

"I didn't say anything," I snickered as I pressed the small pot into the low embers.

"As I was saying, I was out to _pee_ and I happened to stray your way. That's why you detected my chakra signal."

"You were just being a worry wart, in other words," I prompted.

"Same difference. And, for your information, I am fully capable of hiding my chakra," he informed me as he rubbed his thumb over his mouth.

"Mmhm," I said, the skepticism in my voice making his eye narrow. I simply stared intently at the smolders as I stirred the small logs with my kunai. I could still see him poking at his mouth from the corner of my eye as I played the indifferent card for a change. And it suddenly came back to me.

"How's that lip?" I asked him, craning my neck forward to try and get a good look.

"Excellent." He leaned away in response.

"Can I see it?" I hummed, offering him one of my cutest eyebrow tilts yet.

"Um," he too hummed, countering my expression with a mock sweet look of his own. "Ah, no."

"My chakra's back. I think it's time to finish what I started, don't you?" I idly examined the edge of my kunai. Kakashi twirled a lock of his hair around his forefinger, his thumb now no where near his lip now that he knew I was watching.

"I think not."

"It's not up for discussion," I stated to my kunai.

"It certainly is not," he agreed, his voice starting to take on the sensei tone we all know and love. However, I wasn't intimidated. If anything, it egged me on.

"Precisely," I murmured, abruptly directing my line of sight to him. I watched, satisfied, as he tensed under my gaze. It was horribly provoking. "I'm stronger than you, you know," I said, smirking. "Faster too, I'll wager." Kakashi ever so casually shifted to his knees.

"Sakura, you don't scare me," he intoned, his silver eyebrow furrowing. "And what makes you think you are? I think working as Tsunade's assistant has falsely developed your superiority complex. And perhaps descreased your ability to reason as well. You _obviously_ don't know what you're talking about."

I crept forward. He tilted backward. His left eye was now opened; both two-tones blinked at me, reading my body language I was sure. As far as I was concerned, I was nothing short of confident. And he could see it.

"Don't I?" I asked, following suit and also shifting. Toward him. "If I'm not mistaken, I'd say that's a challenge."

"You wouldn't dare," he growled, his tone menacing, threatening... _exhilarating._

"Oh, I'm awfully tempted." I could already see him edging backward.

"Sakura, settle down. We're both adults-- _equals_."

"Yup. So, perhaps that means you wont be too humiliated by the end of this if you keep that in your head. That is, unless you tend to be like Shikamaru in the face of defeat-- by a woman." I steadied myself onto a hand, slowly readying myself like a cat about to pounce.

"Sakura... Sakura. We don't have time for this."

"That's okay. This wont take a moment."

"Sakura," he gasped. "Check the rice-- it's burning!" I wasn't fooled. The second he said this, he was wheeling around.

"Oh, no you don't!" I growled. I was at his heels in an instant. Literally. I'd flung my arms around them and we both crashed to the ground.

"Sakura!" my teacher's muffled voice was yelling into the ground. "You're being very immature, you know that?" He started trying to worm his way out of my grasp. But, kudos to my replenished chakra, he didn't get very far. Quite the contrary actually. I was now successfully pinning the back of his knees with my legs.

"Don't fight me, Kakashi-sensei!" I laughed like a maniac, ever so slowly going in for the kill. "You'll only make it harder on yourself. Just _relax! _Leave things to me! This'll be quick and painless-- but only if you stop and _let_ it happen!"

"Stop it," he grunted and squirmed. "No means _no_!"

I sidled up to his back. Which was a bad idea. The moment I did, using his stupid natural masculine strength or whatever, he twisted around and flattened me against the ground, our positions reversed. Except, this time, he'd thought to pin my arms behind my back, which was smart. One bump with one of my fists and he'd have gone flying back to Konoha.

Unfortunately, it was my turn to be eating dirt. The worst part was that I had no mask to keep the grass from getting inside my mouth. I sputtered out a "mmph! Kamfrashi-semppfeiii!"

"You did this," he sighed. "You've inherited the Hokage's ego." I kicked and floundered.

"What are you doing?" I managed to holler, tilting my face to the side.

"Blocking out your chakra with mine," he answered plainly. "Learnt that one a little while back after my mission to Lightening Country. Comes in handy, no?"

"That's not _fair_!" My chakra-- I could feel it. But it was like trying to squeeze the toothpaste out of a tube that still had the cap on. Not possible-- Kakashi's chakra was that cap.

"There's no such thing as 'fair'. You're going to have to learn that one of these days. Why not today?" In about three minutes flat, he changed me from cocky and powerful to belittled and weak.

Not to mention sulky.

"Eat your burnt rice, Sakura. Before it gets cold," Kakashi said as he perched on his sleeping bag, his eye a happy crease. With my lower lip jutting out and my arms crossed, I was positive I looked like a child. Which was okay. I was entitled.

"No," I grumbled, going out of my way to have my back facing him.

"It'd be a shame if you didn't after all that trouble you went through," he said, his voice able to be construed as gentle, though in my ears it was taunting.

He continued complimenting me on my charcoal handiwork when I ignored him. "I mean, it's delicious. Especially the crunchy black parts. Jasmine rice mixed with a bitter hint of ash-- simply delightful."

"No."

"Sakura, you need to eat something."

"No."

"Fine then. But you're going to miss me, what with my mask down and everything…" I spun around so fast, I had whiplash. "Just kidding," he snickered.

My mouth fell open. Scandalized. I huffed and turned away. "I'll eat when I get my chakra," I hissed.

"Really?" Kakashi asked. "Alright then. There. Eat up."

I blinked. There was no way it was that simple! My disbelief evaporated. Once again I could feel my chakra oozing back through my system...

When I turned around, a bowl of rice with a pair of chopsticks balanced on the top was situated at the foot of my sleeping bag. I sighed. True to my words-- as opposed to him, I reached out and collected the bowl and proceeded to take a delicate bite.

Kakashi was watching me approvingly. "Mmmmm," he said, rubbing his belly in mock contentment. I couldn't help but to crack a smile. Though I _did _try to hide it behind my mouthful of burnt breakfast.

"So how'd you learn that?" I asked after deciding I was a big girl again.

"It's the eye," he said, pointing to his dormant left.

"Ah," I said, immediately understanding. "How does it work?"

"Quite simple really. The user's chakra seeps into the pores of their foe, where it proceeds to engulf theirs. A bit like laminating, I guess you could say. The chakra technically remains there but is as good as useless. It's the user's call when he wants to stop it. But it's difficult to maintain... it feeds off of one's own chakra and after a time, it can be exhausting. Not to mention, if he doesn't do it right, the foe can very well... explode from all of the pent up energy."

My chopsticks fell out of my mouth. Kakashi blinked at me. My eyes bulged. "But you don't have anything to worry about, Sakura," he said, smiling. "My chakra control is too perfect."

"Wish I could do that." Yes, because then I'd show him how _perfect_ my chakra control was…

"You say that," Kakashi said, unconsciously fingering his lip again, "but last I checked, Sasuke isn't looking to give away one of his eyes."

"That's alright," I murmured, "he doesn't have to '_give'_ away anything."

"Oh, is that a flaring ego I detect?" Kakashi chuckled.

I snorted as I picked at my bowl. The burnt patches weren't nearly as delicious as Kakashi made them sound. However, looking at his empty bowl, I wouldn't have been able to tell his was ever burnt. I grimaced.

"If you wont let me properly heal your lip," I said sharply, "stop doing that."

"But it twinges…" he complained quietly.

That was it. It was probably getting infected.

I quickly pushed my bowl to the side and was on my feet in a second. "Alright, Kakashi-sensei! I'm doing this!" I reached out and secured his face between my hands. Both his eyes were wide with horror. "Chakra-block me or whatever and I'll do _more_ than just bruise your peaches!"

My hand was already on his face, my fingers dipping beneath his mask. The very second I began tugging down, Kakashi exploded. I mean, he literally exploded. Into a cloud of smoke. And I was once again holding a bowl of rice. The very one I'd just brushed to the side in fact. I swerved around, only to see him toddling off south, his hands full of the canteens.

"Eat up, Sakura, and pack your things. We will be leaving once I get back." I sighed and collapsed onto my back on his sleeping bag. The blue one. It smelled too much like him. So I tilted my face away from it.

"Whatever," I mumbled. "Which way are we headed?"

"Southeast. To Hiroku Village."

I gasped, shooting upright in a flash. "What?" A village? I thought he said we were going to be avoiding them?

"This village is too large to go around. It'd take too long. We'll just keep a low profile."

"Yes!" I screamed. Birds screeched in the distance.

"Be ready," his voice reminded me from afar. And then he disappeared into the trees. Good thing too. I don't even want to know what he'd have said if he saw me when I fell on my face, courtesy of my cart wheeling and one very ill placed shoe.

* * *


End file.
